


rowena

by AnaGuedes



Series: Founders [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Founders Era, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:14:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaGuedes/pseuds/AnaGuedes
Summary: Rowena Ravenclaw's death.
Series: Founders [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857319
Kudos: 1





	rowena

**Author's Note:**

> I've always been intrigued by how the founders came together, but lately I've been thinking about their deaths (and the possibility of their loneliness). So, I wrote this piece and about the others as well.
> 
> (ps. I did some research to get it closest to what the author wrote, but a lot is my own headcanons)  
> (ps2. hope you like it)

_"The dawn is a beautiful way to die_ ," Rowena Ravenclaw thought. 

After years of dedication to Hogwarts, seeing her friends fall to their own graces, she was stuck in a bed, almost unable to perform simple tasks like bathing. Living alone, she isolated in a forest in the north of Scotland, her old home. 

If only her daughter haven't pushed herself away, obsessed with her diadem. Helena could be by her side, making the passage better, filling her with embraces and stories about the magical world. Sure, their relationship was terrible for most of the time. Being the sole parent after an illicit affair with another wizard, Rowena dedicated her life to Hogwarts and its students, leaving Helena almost alone. After falling ill, Rowena made the mistake to ask the Baron to seek for her daughter and bring her home. That horrible man killed Helena after an unsuccessful attempt to bring her to Scotland - killing himself afterwards.

Rowena knew, after that incident with Helena, that she would rather die alone. Helga Hufflepuff, her oldest and dearest friend, tried to pursuit her into changing her mind, but it was in vain. She chose to be in the woods, to restore any energy left in her veins. Rowena could feel her bones crackling slowly, her breathing getting heavier and her own pace being dragged. Observing the trees became her only distraction, and soon it was obvious her communication skills with owls and ravens were failing. At least she could count with her most personal, and treasured, animal, the one who accompanied her during most of her adult life - and who would deliver the news of her death to her fellow Hogwarts's founders.

She felt more tired every passing minute. The night was sparkled by the stars, with the full moon acting as a blessing for her passage. Rowena tried to remember the last time she felt the closest to peace - perhaps when she was still riding horses and screaming spells at the youngest of age. How swift the time changed. Remembering sneaking out, searching for herbs to help Helga in her own potion making, discovering something on daily basis. She remembered after meeting Godric in a stupid tavern, after he challenged some man into a duel, and how she met Salazar walking in the woods, talking to a serpent who was about to attack passant.

They bonded over their magical skills, how each of them had something to give. She had her wisdom and wit, always eager to learn and discover; Helga with her loyalty and patience; Godric and his bravery, and Salazar with his ambition. Together, they could have ruled over England. Collectively, decided that it was time to help children to focus and learn about magic, creating their own system and giving it all. It lasted for a long period of time (enough to give birth to Helena and her first years in apprenticeship), but their egos couldn't handle different point of views - she should have seen it coming after they decided to divide the children in houses.

After Salazar left (and rumours came around about a secret chamber in the castle), it was a matter of time until they all left. Rowena was the second to leave, falling ill in so little time. She knew Helga was still holding on there, cheering for students, possibly looking for someone to act like a headmaster, while Godric kept teaching, still holding grudges over his fight that led Salazar's exit. Rowena felt miserable for being gone, but knew it didn't have much of choice. She didn't knew what hurt the most: her illness or not being in Hogwarts anymore.

Rowena wanted to curse as the night went by, and her breath started to slow down quickly. She knew it could be painful, but wished it wasn't because of old memories. Oblivious to her own madness, to her own indifference, Rowena never imagined that her choices would make her feel regret. Leastwise, Rowena was able to close her eyes, feeling her heart rate and her brain emptying, making her catch her wand - that was placed under her pillow - and drag her memories, putting them in a bottle (maybe it would be useful in the future, she thought). Still, she could only feel pain, like being stabbed a thousand times in her torso, defenceless.

How could she only in the last moments of her life, think about how it all went wrong. If she could care more about her daughter's needs (maybe talking more about her father, and how she was destined to greatness, without the diadem); if she secluded Godric and Salazar's doings, making them understand their friendship was better if they worked together and not keeping secrets and views. Rowena wanted to apologize to Helga (and thank her for being her friend). Being wise often came with late realizations about the world.

And she rested.

The first ray of light started to appear between the trees. As a new day came, Rowena took her last breath. The room, covered in bronze and blue, felt cold like the wind and snow. An owl landed on the quarter's window. As if it sensed the corpse laying between sheets, the animal caught the letters in a close shelf, knowing what it destined was. Before flying out, the owl screamed, calling out others.

Not much later, before the sun was up in the sky, Rowena Ravenclaw was transferred to the ground by a gentle hand, who never took a bonnet off, shedding a tear before her blue robe disappeared in the dirt. She rested surrounded by the forest, with the wind still blowing like a whisper, as once she joked with her group of acquaintances when coming of age, before truly understanding her place in the world. Oh, how she would have laughed at it if had the chance (and encountering her old fellows). Her despair would turn into a distant memory, lovingly the idea of holding tight those who she cared about.

Rowena could finally rest her mind, not overthinking aspects of her life. Maybe they had to go through it to achieve greatness - and make Hogwarts known. Rowena would never know.


End file.
